JAMMU: At least seven people were killed and about 20 went missing after a landslide, triggered by heavy rains, buried 24 houses in a remote mountainous hamlet in Udhampur district, today.

DIG, Reasi-Udhampur range, Gareeb Dass said a landslide, triggered by heavy rains, buried 24 houses of Punjar Saddal village in Panchari teshil of Udhampur district today.

He said bodies of seven people have been recovered and nearly 20 have gone missing.

Locals from a nearby village have rescued over 100 people, the reports said.

A joint rescue and relief team comprising of SDRF, Police, Medical and Engineering teams were air-dropped at the place to carry out rescue operation, the DIG said. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today wrote to his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz Sharif offering assistance in the efforts to provide relief to the victims of the devastation caused by the record rains, resulting in flooding.

Modi, who was on a day-long visit to the flood-affected areas of Jammu and Kashmir today, said while reviewing the situation in the State that he was told the damage to life and property was equally, if not more, severe in areas across the Line of Control.

“My heart goes out to the affected people and my deepest sympathies are with them and their families.

“In this hour of need, I offer any assistance that you may need in the relief efforts that will be undertaken by the Government of Pakistan. Our resources are at your disposal wherever you need them,” said the letter which was delivered by the Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad.

Saying it a was “matter of great distress” Modi noted that the “devastation caused by the record rains and the consequent flooding is unprecedented”, said an MEA spokesperson.

Earlier, Modi, who flew to J-K and reviewed the flood situation, said like in Jammu and Kashmir, the people in PoK region too were bearing losses due to the floods. This is a humanitarian work and India will never be behind in doing such work, he said. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU/SRINAGAR: The flood fury unleashed more death and destruction in Jammu and Kashmir, claiming the lives of nearly 150 people and leaving many marooned, even as relief efforts were intensified today, with the Prime Minister announcing Rs 1000 crore aid for the battered state.

The marauding flood waters from major rivers and streams have damaged many buildings, including hospitals, and snapped road and communication links, cutting off many areas. The Army cantonment, Civil Secretariat and the High Court in Srinagar were also inundated.

While the situation was starting to ease in Jammu, large areas in Kashmir were enveloped in flood waters following incessant rains since Wednesday. The State Government has ordered closure of all schools till September 12.

Stepping up relief efforts as the weather showed some signs of improvement, the army has deployed 184 columns (75-100 personnel each) while IAF has pressed 29 planes and helicopters into service, set up a disaster monitoring cell and alerted all its bases to a high state of readiness.

Over 13,000 people have been rescued from various areas by Army and IAF. But many people were trapped and awaiting help in upper stories of buildings in low-lying areas, including in Srinagar and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah assured them that help will reach soon.

“This is an unprecedented situation and we are doing the best we can under the circumstances. Please do not panic, we will reach you, I promise,” he said.

As the State struggled to deal with the enormity of the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the flood situation and termed it a “national level disaster”.

The Prime Minister shared the pain and anguish of the people as he was briefed in Jammu and in Srinagar by Omar and senior officials about the damage caused by the floods and said that the Centre stands shoulder to shoulder with J-K Government and the people of the State in this hour of crisis.

“An additional special project assistance of Rs 1,000 crore will be made available by the Government to the State for flood relief and rehabilitation. More assistance would be provided, if required, after a proper survey of the situation has been made,” the PM said.

Omar said, “We will now focus more on relief and rehabilitation. The situation is slowly going back to normalcy in Jammu while in Kashmir the situation has become worse. Especially, the situation is still bad in Srinagar. Our priority is to save people.”

150 boats, rescue teams, divers, flood lights and search lights are being sent to the State, officials said, adding there was also need for more tents.

In Pacheri village in Udhampur, seven people were today killed and over 20 were missing after nearly two dozen houses were buried in landslides. Twenty-two people died overnight in Jammu, taking the toll to 145, including 11 in Kashmir Valley.

Mata Vaishnodevi shrine yatra remained suspended for the fourth consecutive day with authorities saying the pilgrimage would resume only after the weather improves.

A total of twelve AN-32, four IL-76, five C-130J and two C-17 transport aircraft of the IAF have been pressed into operation to ferry men and relief material. As the number of shelter-less people is rising, Army is also providing tented accommodation to hundreds of people.

River Jhelum was in spate in several places, breaching embankments, which has led to flooding of residential and commercial areas.

In Srinagar, the commercial hub of Lal Chowk and surrounding areas were inundated and the water levels at Civil Secretariat and High Court rose to six to eight feet.

Officials said vital roads including the airport road, Exhibition Crossing, Hari Singh High Street, Lal Chowk and Regal Chowk have been submerged under several feet of water.

Access to main hospitals like SMHS and Lalla Ded has been cut off due to flooding of roads.

Communication system has been disrupted with all almost all private cellular networks out of order. The landline telephone network has also been badly affected.

Electricity and water supply has remained disrupted in affected areas for the past six days now.

“The rescue and relief operations has been intensified in view of the improvement in weather. It will continue till all people trapped in floods are rescued”, Air Officer Commanding (AoC), Jammu IAF Station, Air Commodore P E Patange said.

“Our priority is to save the lives first besides carrying out airdropping of ration, medicines to the trapped people,” he said.

The weather department has forecast “no major rainfall” in the Valley as well as in Jammu as well in next four days

The 22 people who died overnight in Jammu included five in Jammu due to house collapse, six in Udhampur, five in Reasi two each in Rajouri and Poonch taking the toll in Jammu region to 127.

Of the 63 people who were washed along with a bus in Rajouri district on Thursday last, two more bodies were recovered today, taking the total number of bodies recovered to 37.

Reaching out to jawans in marooned BoPs and fencing areas along Indo-Pak border, IAF choppers evacuated a total of over 180 BSF and Army jawans from various forward posts in Jammu sector today.

A senior official said that additional teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 100 boats have been rushed to Kashmir for launching rescue operations in the Valley.

“We are facing shortage of boats for rescuing people from inundated areas. A lot of 100 boats is being airlifted from Delhi,” Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Rohit Kansal said.

Kansal said many people were trapped in several localities. “Due to shortage of boats we have not been able to reach these areas yet,” he said.

The Army, meanwhile, has resumed searches for two soldiers, who went missing after their boat capsized during a rescue and relief operation in flood-affected Pulwama district of Kashmir.

The Prime Minister today also offered all possible assistance to Pakistan for carrying out relief operations in the flood-ravaged Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

He had on Thursday announced Rs 2 lakh as ex-gratia relief for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured in the State.

Other states have also been asked to assist in the relief efforts.  Home Minister Rajnath Singh also appealed to all social organisations and NGOs to mobilise their resources.

Control rooms are being set up at Srinagar, Jammu and New Delhi to actively monitor and coordinate the rescue and relief operations in the state.

A team of officials headed by Joint Secretary (Disaster Management) of the Home Ministry has been instructed to monitor from Srinagar rescue and relief operations in the state.

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley exhorted for a “national effort” to support the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their hour of crisis and lauded the role of Indian Armed Forces in rescuing people stranded in the flood-hit areas.

“Lets have a national effort to support the people of the flooded State in this hour of crisis.

“Our armed forces are leaving no stone unturned to rescue people stranded in the flood hit J&K,” he said on Twitter. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI: In what could come as some respite to flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, the weatherman today forecast “no major rainfall” in the Valley as well as in Jammu in the next four days and a decrease in rainfall activity in other parts of North India.

“There will be no major rainfall in the Valley as well as in Jammu in the next four days…Jammu may get respite,” said Laxman Singh Rathore, Director General of the Indian Meteorological Department.

While the monsoon was vigorous over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana during the last week, no major warning has been issued by the Met department for these states for the coming days.

Heavy rains lashed J&K, where several rivers are in spate. The state witnessed flood fury which claimed the lives of nearly 150 people and left many marooned.

Heavy to very heavy rainfall has been predicted at a few places with extremely heavy falls at isolated places over Telangana in the next couple of days including Vidarbha and Central Maharashtra.

At isolated places over Konkan, Goa and Marathwada, there will be heavy to very heavy rainfall, India Meteorological Department said in its bulletin today.

Heavy rainfall has been forecast in Konkan and Goa and central parts of Maharashtra, at isolated places in Gujarat, east Rajasthan, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim and west Madhya Pradesh and parts of Karnataka, it said.

Meanwhile, the well marked low pressure over Odisha and adjoining Chhattisgarh persist. The Monsoon trough passes through Phalodi, Kota, Guna, Narsinghpur, the centre of well marked low pressure area over Odisha and adjoining Chhattisgarh, Gopalpur and thence southeastwards to  eastcentral Bay of Bengal.

An upper air cyclonic circulation was over Haryana and adjoining West Uttar Pradesh, it said. (AGENCIES)

JAMMU, Sept 7: The State Government has extended vacations in the schools by four more days, till September 12, in view of the flood situation in the State.
As per an order issued here today by Secretary School Education, Nirmal Sharma all the Government and private schools of the State shall remain close for a period of four days w.e.f  8th of September, 2014 to 11th of September 2014 and shall reopen on September 12, 2014.
Earlier, Government has ordered closure of schools till September 8 in the wake of flash-floods triggered by rains on the intervening night of September 2 and 3. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, Sep 7:
Announcing a slew of measures for supporting electricity generation in Jammu and Kashmir, Power Minister Piyush Goyal today said the State should study its hydro-power generation potential and develop plants on a fast track basis.
The minister on completing 100 days in office said the Government is committed to assure 24×7 electricity supply to every house hold by bringing in transformative reforms in the sector.
“Have asked the State to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of its hydel capacity on a fast track basis as hydel plants should be set up in J&K,” Goyal said here.
“We can set up solar power plants in the region, we can increase hydel generation in the State and transmit that power to the rest of the country and the State can earn revenue,” he said.
The Centre has also decided to extend financial assistance for the 1,000 MW Pakal Dul project in the state which had become economically unviable, by providing low interest loan.
Public Investment Board (PIB) has decided to give subordinate loan to the project of Rs 2,500 crore for implementation of the project, he said.
On the flood-hit J&K, Goyal said, “Whatever contribution is required from the power sector for relief work, we will extend full support. We will help the State Government in restoring the power lines.” (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI : Train services to Katra are likely to remain closed till Wednesday noon while rail movement on Banihal-Baramulla could remain out of operation till next Sunday due to unprecedented heavy rains and floods in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Northern Railway today cancelled six trains on the Jammu Tawi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra section in view of resultant breaches and heavy boulder fall and damages to track.

Three trains between New Delhi and Katra, one each between Udhampur and Anand Vihar, Jammu Tawi and Udhampur and Jammu Tawi and Kathgodam stand cancelled today.

Five trains have been partially cancelled between Jammu Tawi and Udhampur today and two for tomorrow.

The portion Banihal-Baramulla is also flooded at several locations and local residents have come on to the tracks on account of flooding of their area.

This portion of track is likely to remain closed up to September 14 and all the trains running on the section have been cancelled till further notice, a senior Northern Railway official said.

Northern Railway had yesterday cancelled five train services on the Jammu Tawi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra section.

This portion of Railway Line is likely to remain closed up to 1200 hours on September 10. Ten trains have been cancelled on this section for tomorrow.

“For expeditious restoration efforts are continuing and public notices shall be given in due course from time to time,” the official said. (AGENCIES)